Warmth, depth and intellectual curiosity

Another nice pre-publication review for Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome, this time from Madeleine Johnson, a writer and neuroscientist who knows Italy super-well, having spent three decades here. Here's some of what she says in The American In Italia: 

"Levenstein’s anecdotal memoir — set for release in May — steers clear of the colonialist trope in which life among “friendly Italian natives” brings emotional and sensual liberation to the hidebound foreigner. Levenstein pulls back from that stereotypical brink by infusing her odyssey with warmth, depth and intellectual curiosity . . . as non-judgmental as it is intellectually acute. She also extracts deeper lessons and delivers insights into how societies and individuals heal and live. These come with laugh-aloud examples that deftly trace 50 years of changes . . .

"These days, hundreds of policy papers and newspaper editorials regularly debate competing claims of medical efficiency, patient care, cost-containment, and expanding reach. But none do so with Levenstein’s humor and sensitivity to the human condition. And they certainly don’t make it fun — never mind being able to set the story in the Eternal City."